The Buck Stops Here

August 2, 2010
Big presidential decisions are usually attributed to big presidential names, like Roosevelt, Kennedy, or Nixon. Indeed, these names appear frequently in this absorbing and entertaining examination of presidential decisions. Yet, amid the more glamorous personalities and seismic shifts attributed to actions such as Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase, which not only expanded the country but signaled a profound expansion of presidential power, and Kennedy’s Bay of Pigs fiasco, are lesser known accomplishments by rarely mentioned leaders, like Millard Fillmore, who helped make the U.S. a formidable presence in the Pacific. An engaging journey through the actions of 17 presidents who, for the most part, pushed the country towards progress, The Buck Stops Here also reveals the elasticity of presidential power over the last 200 years. While not every decision was grave or monumental, these presidential actions are shown to have had a lasting impact on American culture. Theodore Roosevelt’s dinner invitation to Booker T. Washington, for instance, not only pitted Southern Democrats against the more progressive Republicans of the time, but helped push the issue of race to the forefront of the American debate. Photos.